Biological and geoscience collections form an important part of our rich scientific heritage and provide the basis for much of what we know today about our planet and how we humans have influenced it. Natural history collections help us to understand our past and present better, thereby providing a basis for predicting the future. They also serve as biobanks for preserving the Earth’s organismic and genomic diversity, and must not only be maintained, but also supplemented so that scientists can continue to document and explore life on Earth. As new investigative techniques emerge, we can discover more from studying such intact and well-preserved collections.

Biological and geoscience collections form an important part of our rich scientific heritage and provide the basis for much of what we know today about our planet and how we humans have influenced it. Natural history collections help us to understand our past and present better, thereby providing a basis for predicting the future. They also serve as biobanks for preserving the Earth’s organismic and genomic diversity, and must not only be maintained, but also supplemented so that scientists can continue to document and explore life on Earth. As new investigative techniques emerge, we can discover more from studying such intact and well-preserved collections.